Rebekah got up from Stefan's bed and left his journal there. She walked over to a picture of Elowen and Stefan that was sitting on a table in the room and picked it up. She looked over it for a moment before setting it down.

"Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple. You and Damon, on the other hand…"

"Huh."

"What?"

Elowen shook her head and sat in a chair in the room. "Nothing. It's just that everyone usually says the opposite. They all thought I was crazy for giving Damon a chance as a friend and then thought I lost my mind when I started dating him. They think he's bad for me."

"Damon's harmless. Stefan's the one they need to worry about."

"I'm starting to see that now."

"And yet you still love him."

Elowen shrugged. "What can I say? I have a knack for thinking I can fix the bad ones."

"And why's that?"

"Call it a coping mechanism, a redemption arc. There's a reason I let Klaus sacrifice my biological dad in the ritual."

"Yes, he told me about that. I figured there must've been an explanation." Rebekah sighed and sat on top of the table. "The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the Original Witch."

"I gathered as much."

"Right. You're good at that sort of thing. Well, not only is she the one who put the hybrid curse on my brother, she's the one who turned us into vampires."

Mikael, Esther and Ayana are standing inside a house that was lit by a fire.

"Please, Ayana! I implore you!" Mikael was saying. "You must call upon the spirits before the next full moon."

"I will not!" Ayana replied sharply. "It is a crime against nature."

"Ayana, we have already lost so much," Esther told her. "We cannot lost any more. The spirits can help us find a way to protect our children."

So far, Rebekah hadn't noticed Elowen zoning out every now and then. It was interesting. Before, everyone knew when she'd had a premonition because she had such a physical reaction, but that wasn't the case anymore. Rebekah got up from the table.

"I'm thirsty. Do you want a drink?"

She started walking out of Stefan's bedroom and Elowen followed. They both entered the library and Rebekah headed for the drink table.

"So, vampirism was a form of protection," Elowen mused. "Not exactly what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?" Rebekah asked.

"I don't know, but not that. Marisol thought it was another curse."

"How does this Marisol thing work? She just talks to you in your head?"

"Pretty much. She's constantly fighting for room because your head isn't meant to have more than one person in it. It's crowded."

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"No. It's just mildly annoying. She won't shut up."

"And one day, you'll just be gone? Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"That's a shame. You're not terrible company, I suppose."

"Here's one thing I'm a little confused about. If your parents were so scared of the werewolves, why not just leave?"

"Pride. My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses…"

Mikael, Esther and Ayana were still talking in the room.

"Everything could be heightened," Mikael spoke. "Our family could live forever."

"At what cost?" Ayana asked. "This magic you speak of breeds consequence. This is the makings of a plague, Esther. The spirits will turn on you."

"Please, Ayana," Esther begged.

Ayana shook her head. "I will have no part of it."

Ayana turned and left the home. Mikael closed the door behind her and turned to Esther.

"If she will not protect our family, then it is in your hands, alone, my love."

"Your mother was the Original Witch," Elowen said as a statement. It wasn't hard to figure out. "The witch of the Original Family."

"Correct. You're a fast one." Rebekah looked over the drink table. "Where do they keep their best vintage?"

Elowen walked over and picked up a bottle of wine. She handed it to Rebekah, who broke off the neck in one swift motion and tossed it into the fireplace.

"How did she do it, then?"

"My mother did this for us. She did not turn. She called upon the sun for life and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood, and then he drove his sword through our hearts."

Elowen's eyes widened slightly. "You mean he killed you? All of you?"

"And he wasn't delicate about it either."

Rebekah and Klaus awoke on the floor of a house. Their clothes were covered in blood where Mikael had stabbed them.

"Rebekah…" Klaus whispered as he crawled over to her. Rebekah saw the blood on her clothes and gasped in panic.

"Blood! What happened?"

"You will be alright! We will all be alright."

The door to the room blew open and Mikael came walking in with a girl. Klaus looked up, both confused and partially scared.

"What are you doing?"

"We must finish what we started!" Mikael pushed the girl on her knees in front of Rebekah. "You have to drink if you want to live." He took a knife out and cut the girl's wrist open. "Drink!" Rebekah stared at the girl's wrist, but didn't make a move. "Drink!" Klaus tried to stop what was happening, but Mikael pushed him aside. Rebekah finally grabbed the girl's wrist and started to drink deeply. Dark veins appeared around her eyes.

"We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual. It was euphoric. The feeling of power was indescribable, but the witch Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us and nature fought back. For every strength there would be weakness. The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks, and though my mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out. Flowers at the base of the white oak burned and prevented compulsion, and the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away, so we burned it to the ground. But, the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated. The hunger. Blood has made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it, and with that, the predatory species was born."

"So, why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?"

"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame."

"Yeah, Elijah told me this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son."

"She tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him, but Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village, then he came home and killed her."

Elowen furrowed her eyebrows. "Mikael killed your mother?"

Something about that didn't seem right.

"He said she broke his heart, so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched." Rebekah took notice of Elowen's face and eyed her suspiciously. "What? What is it?"

"Nothing, I'm sure."

Rebekah carefully approached her. "Tell me what it is. I know about your power. Don't lie."

"It's just… how do you know it was Mikael who killed your mother?"

"Nik was there. He told me."

Elowen nodded. "Okay. I believe you."

Except she didn't. Rebekah narrowed her eyes, but dropped it.

"Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother."

Klaus had just finished burying Esther. Rebekah came and stood by him.

"I know you think she hated you, Niklaus, but she did not. She was just afraid. I'm sorry she turned her back on you. I will never do that."

Elijah appeared and walked towards them. "Nor will I."

"We stick together as one. Always and forever."

Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah held hands in a circle to make a pact. They all stared at each other and smiled.

"Always and forever, even though he locked you in a coffin for 90 years?" Elowen asked. "And keeps the rest of your family daggered?"

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik… Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him," Rebekah replied. "Over a thousand years as a family, we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."

"But you still love him. I get it. He's your brother. I'd do anything for mine."

"It's either that or spend eternity alone. I'm immortal. You've heard the story, it's time to go."

Elowen shrugged and started heading for the door without another word. Rebekah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"That's it?" She called after her, beginning to follow her. "You're just going to leave because I asked?"

Elowen turned back around. "You told me what I asked you to tell me. Storytime is over, right? There's no reason for me to be here now. You don't have to play along anymore."

"But you're still going to wake up Mikael."

"Your brother, no matter how much Marisol adores him, is a threat to my family. The same way you'd rip me apart for coming after Klaus, I'll do what I have to do to protect mine. That's one thing we can agree on. Family. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave now."

xxxx

Alaric, Elowen and Bonnie were back down in the cave. Alaric was sticking post it notes to the wall by certain drawings.

"We, uh, filled in what we could," Alaric told Elowen. "A vampire, werewolf, slaughter, mayhem, etc."

Elowen looked over the wall. She pointed one of the drawings out. "That's the white oak tree that was used in the spell to create the vampires, which means that was where they burned down the tree, destroying the only way that they could be killed."

"Okay, so the tree equals weapon, sort of. We already knew that. What we're not sure about is this." Alaric pointed to another symbol. "We've got the witch symbol and what looks like a bleeding heart. Upside down figures usually signify death, of some kind."

"Mikael killed the witch by ripping her heart out, but… why is that one connected to the witch's death?"

Bonnie shrugged. "We don't know. We haven't made it that far."

Elowen looked over the drawings for a minute before realization started to dawn on her. "Oh my god. Rebekah doesn't know the real story."

xxxx

Elowen re-entered the boarding house, holding pictures of the cave drawings. Rebekah was pouring herself a drink. Rudy was lying on the couch. He lifted his head to see who was coming in and then rested it back on his paws.

"I thought that storytime was over, so you didn't need to be here anymore," Rebekah said without looking over at Elowen. She lifted her drink and took a sip.

"Remember earlier, when I asked how you knew Mikael killed your mom?"

"What about it?"

"Truth was, something was telling me that wasn't true, but I didn't have any proof and I knew you'd say I was wrong."

"Because you would be."

"Except now I'm certain he lied to you."

"And why do you say that?"

Elowen lifted the pictures in her hands. She set them down on a nearby table and spread them out. "The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols. The story of your family, how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this," Elowen pointed to one of the pictures, "this is the symbol for hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol, and this is the one for your mother."

Rebekah looked at the drawing. "Her necklace."

"And this is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the Original Witch. Not Mikael, Klaus."

Rebekah shook her head. "No! No, he wouldn't."

"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. When he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah, and then he made up this entire lie so that he wouldn't lose you."

Rebekah's eyes had gotten watery, but she refused to cry. At least not in front of Elowen. "These mean nothing!" She yelled. "They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!"

She picked up all the pictures, tore them in half and threw them in the fire.

"Then how come you're so upset?"

"Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!"

"Because you deserve the truth, Rebekah! I'm very big on being truthful. Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!"

Rebekah suddenly grabbed onto Elowen's throat and roughly pushed her against the wall. Her fangs came out and veins appeared under her eyes. "Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk anymore! Nothing!"

Rebekah was breathing heavily, but she calmed herself down enough to let go of Elowen. She fell to her knees and couldn't stop it anymore. She started to sob to herself on the ground. Elowen looked at her with sympathy, but then grabbed onto her stomach and stumbled backwards.

"Rebekah. Rebekah, I'm sorry. I can't hold her off anymore. I can't-"

Marisol caught her balance and slowly knelt down next to Rebekah. She tried to reach out and touch her shoulder, but Rebekah recoiled away.

"Don't touch me! Just go away."

Marisol flinched slightly and crawled back and away from Rebekah to give her space.

"Nik lied to me, too," Marisol started to say softly. "He said I had to die. My whole life was robbed from me. A life I deserved to live, and he took that from me. Now, I'm taking Elowen's life away from her, a life she also deserves to live, and there's nothing I can do about it. If it were up to me, I'd stay dead. Kol tried to make it right, but Nik killed him. He kills anyone that gets in his way. I never had any family, because I didn't get far enough in life to have one, so I don't know what it's like to want to protect them, but I think that when bad people do bad things, they deserve to be punished."

Rebekah continued to cry on the ground and Marisol wasn't sure if she was listening, so she slowly stood up and glanced at the door. She didn't want to leave her alone, but something was telling her it was for the best, so she carefully walked around Rebekah and started to leave. She cast one last glance over her shoulder before opening the front door and leaving.

xxxx

Marisol had let Elowen have control again so she could drive. She walked into Alaric's apartment and found Damon lounging about on the bed. She locked the front door behind her and continued on her way.

"We got Mikael," Damon piped up as he watched Elowen change into pjs so she could go to bed. Elowen raised her eyebrows.

"Really? How?"

"No idea. I guess Katherine came through. Plan's in motion. See, I told you I had it."

"I never said you didn't."

"Then, tell Marisol."

"She's over it."

"Is she now?"

"Mm-hmm. Tonight she realized how important family is, even though she didn't get to have one. She says you're just doing what you think is right for your brother. She thinks we got Rebekah on our side."

"Really? What'd you learn from her?"

"We learned that she's just a girl. That she lost her mom too young and that she loves blindly and recklessly, even if it consumes her. Marisol says she's jealous because she never got to experience that." Elowen shrugged as she finished changing. "When it's all said and done, there's nothing more important than the bond of family."

Elowen came over and got into bed with Damon. He rolled onto his side to face her. "Well, you should tell that to my brother."

Elowen sighed. "I think that you're going to be the one to save him from himself. It won't be because he loves me, it'll be because he loves you." She leaned over and kissed Damon. "I need to finish getting ready for bed."

"Then, go do that. I'll sit right here and wait for you."

Elowen smiled and got back up from the bed to head over to the bathroom. The smile disappeared once she was out of Damon's view.

Marisol was really upset about not getting to know what having a family felt like, or knowing what it was like to be hopelessly in love, and it was making Elowen's heart clench. She still hadn't realized that she had been in love with Klaus, or that she had feelings for Kol, or how much Kol loved her, and so she thought that nobody was capable of loving her the way Stefan and Damon loved Elowen. She was hurt and jealous.

Elowen sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. Marisol might've not wanted to take over Elowen's life, but Elowen felt like she owed Marisol the chance to live.

Only time would tell how this would work out.

xxxx

Esmeralda walked into her bedroom, having just finished brushing her teeth, and had the shock of her life when she saw Alaric standing there.

"Are you… are you here to get your things?" She asked quietly. "So you can stay the night at your place with Elowen?"

"No. I'm, uh, actually here to talk."

"Oh. I thought that maybe you wanted some space, or that you wouldn't want to speak to me for awhile."

Alaric shoved his hands in his pants pockets. "I've had some time to think about it, and I decided that I love you too much to let you go, or to let something like this be the end of us. You're still in love with Elijah. I can accept that-"

"I love you, too. I want to make that clear."

"I know you do, which is why I'm confident we can move past this. When we first started dating, I was still in love with Isobel, and we handled that relatively well, didn't we?"

Esmeralda shook her head. "I don't understand. You should be angry with me."

"And I was, at first." Alaric removed his hands from his pockets and walked over to Esmeralda. He carefully took hold of her own hands with his. "If I have to battle an Original vampire for your affection, I'll do it, because I love you and I don't want to lose you. You're worth fighting for, Esmeralda."

"Are you sure we can't just do what Elowen, Stefan and Damon are doing?" She asked jokingly.

Alaric laughed. "I don't know how I'd feel about sharing you. I don't know how Stefan and Damon do it."

Esmeralda's smile dropped. "I really am sorry."

Alaric cupped Esmeralda's face. "I know you are."

He pulled her in for a hug and she buried her face into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long while before pulling back.

"How about we go to bed, huh?" Alaric asked.

Esmeralda smiled again and nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that."